SWOP, the Department Of Sociology and the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies will host the launch of a new book by Ching Kwan Lee.

China has recently emerged as one of Africa's top business partners, aggressively pursuing its raw materials and establishing a mighty presence in the continent's booming construction market. Among major foreign investors in Africa, China has stirred the most fear, hope, and controversy. For many, the specter of a Chinese neocolonial scramble is looming, while for others China is Africa's best chance at economic renewal. Yet, global debates about China in Africa have been based more on rhetoric than on empirical evidence. Lee's book is the first comparative ethnographic study that addresses the critical question: Is Chinese capital a different kind of capital?